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Do you prefer organic food over conventional supermarket shelf options? Judging by the prolific rise of the organic movement across the globe chances are you’re a fan. Now, the question is, are all your organic products foods or do you also take advantage of organic soaps, hand sanitizers, laundry soap or even organic toothpastes?

The same reasoning applies. Less and less people want to use mass-produced toothpaste brands that could include chemicals and additives that don’t come from nature. Here’s three of the harmful chemicals that have been found in mainstream toothpastes in the past:

titanium dioxide

sodium hydroxide

blue 1 aluminum lake

The truth is that the list of what’s in many toothpastes is incredibly long and almost no one who considers buying these products has any idea what they are…which is daunting.

An Example Organic Toothpaste

Here’s a smaller brand with a great online presence who have done a fabulous job promoting their organic product:Earthpaste!

What a pleasant name. Let’s see what ingredients they use:

Purified water

Food-grade Redmond Clay® which has a little natural sea salt.

Tea Tree Oil

Menthol from fresh organic peppermint and wintergreen leaves.

Essential oils: peppermint, wintergreen and cinnamon.

Wow! Doesn’t that sound good…the only issue would be keeping yourself from swallowing it. So why did they take the time and trouble of putting their business and organic toothpaste together for people like us:

“Because we couldn’t find a toothpaste that we felt good about using for ourselves and our families that also worked great. Even many natural toothpaste brands have added things like glycerin, foaming agents and chemical preservatives.”

Okay, Here’s Another Example

You can make your own! Right now you have access to organic supplies. You can order the essential oils online or get them from most health-food or supplement stores. You can purify water at home. What if you made your own organic toothpaste? Not only is it cheaper but then you know exactly what you’re putting into your mouth!

You can be as creative as you want with the actual recipes but there are tons of them online. We did a quick look and found “3 simple homemade toothpaste recipes” from Mother Nature Network. Here’s the ingredients list for your own homemade coconut-based toothpaste:

Here’s the deal: organic toothpastes taste better and they put your mind at ease because you know what’s in them. Modern ecommerce makes it easy but you need to do your homework. Don’t just go to Amazon or Google “organic toothpaste” and buy from the first option in search results. Do your due diligence and make sure that they’re not fraudsters looking to capitalize on organic fever.

Because, after all, we are what we put into our mouths so our food and any products we use need to be clean, safe and non-toxic! If you would like to know more about organic toothpaste or where to turn for trusted brands let us know.

Think about it, what were humans doing for our entire evolutionary history before the advent of the toothbrush? Well, as it turns out we happen to know exactly what we were doing: using chew sticks and herbal remedies to clean our mouths and keep tooth decay at bay. In this article we’re going to talk more about the subject and give you yet another reason to start growing herbs at home!

You can break them down into five categories that all serve a special purpose:

Antibacterial / Anti-inflammatory resins: ideal when dealing with an exposed nerve or toothache because they deep-clean the mouth and remove agitating bacteria while also distinguishing inflammation.

Anti-microbial herbs: Now we’re talking powerful herbs and roots that can be as strong as or stronger than penicillin when dealing with something like strep throat. They also tend to bacteria and stand in the way of plaque.

Astringents: These basically tighten up the skin in your gums. They’ll reduce inflammation and are typically going to be tannin-rich components like sage, tormentil or Krameria.

Immune boosters: The goal here is to activate the healing power of your mouth, empower your immunity and provide antiseptics. Echinacea is a really mainstream option here and easy to get hold of either as pure lead-form or as part of a formula.

Essential oils: if you want to make your own organic and all-natural toothpaste at home, you’ll inevitably buy essential oils that are made of a great many things like thyme, spearmint, peppermint, wintergreen or something a bit more on the sweet side like cinnamon.

An Herbal Home Garden for Your Teeth

There was a time when just about everyone used or depended on herb gardens, both at home and locally. How uncommon they’ve become, but from the dental perspective herbs are amazing at maintain the strength and integrity of your teeth/gums while also keeping your mouth clean.

We invite you to check out this article called “Herbs for Teeth and Gums” over at EvergreenHerbGarden.org. In it a teacher describes a dream they had and acted on to create a toothpowder. Here is the ingredients list:

White oak bark ½ oz.

Myrrh ½ oz.

Bayberry ¼ oz.

Goldenseal 1/8oz.

Cinnamon, cloves combination 1 tsp.

Stevia and spearmint to taste.

“Many of these herbs are very astringent which means they will tighten up tissue. The goldenseal is a mild antibiotic, anti-bacterial herb, the cinnamon and cloves are effective dentifrices and the stevia is good at fighting the buildup of plaque as well as a potent sweetener; 30 times sweeter than sugar without the deleterious effects. I added spearmint for the taste.”

Without question, flossing and brushing your teeth is the best thing you can do to maintain a pearly white smile. But, it’s also a fact that adding plenty of fresh organic herbs to your diet is going to help a bunch! Heard of licorice root? You can chew on it, clean your mouth and fight off bacteria in a matter of moments. Check into it! Herbs and your teeth are a flattering couple.